We can still make it, Clove
by justtinex3
Summary: The 74th Hunger Games, Cato's p.o.v. Enjoy. Review and let me know what you think. :
1. Chapter 1

**Hi. This is my Clato fanfic, I hope you enjoy it. I am writing a Finnick and Annie one, too, but I had a bad nights sleep, and for some reason got inspired to write this. So, if you do want to check out my Finnick and Annie one aswel, it would be much appreciated, ha. I hope you like it. Please review, honest opinions, I'd really love to know what people think about it. When I read it back through, I noticed that Cato does seem to be a bit more soft than he is in the book, so hopefully I'll manage to make him more how he is in the book, ha. Thankyou for reading, in advance, if you do. Means a lot. Don't forget to review :)!**

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Chapter One

I slowly open my eyes to the bright sunlight streaming in through a small gap in my curtains. I groan and slowly turn over. _Just a few more minutes. _I think to myself. I try force myself to go back to sleep, but something wont let me. I open my eyes again and slowly look around my room. My eyes dart to my calender hanging on my wall, opposite my bed. I sit up, faster than I ever have. Today is the day. Today is the day I volunteer to be tribute. I smile to my self. This time next month, I shall be in my new home, in the Victory village. My home is nice enough here. It's big, I have enough money, but I want more. I want one of those modern, huge houses that the other victors have. I want fame and wealth and more money than I know what to do with. I want to win.

It's been like this ever since I was little. I've dreamed about the year I deemed myself strong and brave enough to volunteer. I wanted to volunteer as soon as I was 12, but despite how much my parents wanted me to become a tribute, they made me wait. I've only just managed to persuade them to let me volunteer this year. It took a hell of a lot of persuading, but I managed to. I trained for nearly 14 hours a day. They know I'm strong enough. I had to make sure it was this year. I'm 17, and this year is the 74th annual Hunger Games. Next year, will be the 3rd Quarter Quell, and who knows what they have planned for that. Since next year will be my last year to volunteer, I'd rather volunteer this year, when it's just the average, normal games.

My parents think it would be better to volunteer for the Quarter Quell. They think it would get me more fame, or something. I want to be the victor, but I'd rather not risk my life even more than I'm going to be. The last Quarter Quell, there were twice as many tributes from each district. I'm still surprised that Haymitch Abernathy, a boy from District 12, won that year. I think he's the only surviving victor from twelve. Their kids are usually tiny and frail and pathetic and die in the initial blood bath at the Cornucopia. How one of them managed to survive while 47 other tributes died, especially when 12 of them were Career tributes, I'll never know. At least one of the girl tributes lasted until right near the end too, I think. That year surprised a lot of people.

I hesitantly get up. I need to do some last minute training, but I want to go back to sleep. I want to sleep right until I have to get ready. I know this day is going to go slow, training or not. I pull on sweatpants and a black tank top and go down stairs where my mom is making breakfast.

"Good morning, Cato!" I hear my mom say as I'm halfway down the stairs.

"Morning, mom." I reply.

"Want some breakfast?" she asks when I make my way to the kitchen. I shake my head and reach for a glass of water. "You've got to eat something, love."

"Not hungry" I mumble.

"I've made pancakes" she smiles

"if it will get you off my back, fine" I sigh, trying to return her smile.

"You nervous?" she asks, placing down a plate of pancakes in front of me, and taking the seat beside me.

"About what?" I ask, with my mouth full.

"Cato. Don't speak with your mouth full." She sighs. "About volunteering, obviously."

"Of course I'm not. I'm ready for this, mom." I say.

"I'm not sure about this. I know you think you're ready, but what if you're not? What if you don't make it back? Cato. I don't want you to volunteer." I can see tears welling up in her eyes.

"Dad wants me to. It will make him proud of me." I say, hugging her. "I'll come home."

"Your father would be proud of you whether you became a tribute or not. He just wants his boy safe."

"You know that's not true, ma'. If I don't volunteer, he'll be so disappointed. Because he never got the chance to be a tribute, he's made sure I will be. You know that." I say, hugging her again. "I'm going for a couple of hours training, I'll be back soon"

"But, if you're going to volunteer, don't you want to spend some time with us for a while?" she squeaks.

"There will plenty of time to see each other when I get home, ma'." I laugh, lightly, kissing her on the forehead. I slip on some shoes and head out the door.

The training centre is about a 10 minute walk from my house. I set up a slow, steady jog, and make it to the centre in just over five minutes. "Morning, Sash" I say to the girl behind reception. She looks up and gives me a flirtatious smile.

"Hi, Cato" she purrs. "You're here early"

"It's my year, Sash" I smile.

"Oh, really?" Her flirtatious look is gone, and is replaced by a look of worry.

"What's the matter? Don't think I'll make it?"

"Of course I do. Doesn't mean I wont be worried about you." she frowns.

"You have nothing to worry about. I'll come home. This isn't the last you'll see of my ugly mug" I wink.

"I hope not." She's back to flirting. "Someone's in there, Cato. Some girl. You can train along side her, or you can wait, with me until she gets out"

"I'll train, thanks" I smile, walking into the gym.

The gym is huge, with tons of dummies all around, with different kinds of weaponry around them. Knives, spears, swords, bows and arrows, axes. I always feel like I'm in heaven when I'm here. The girl that's training is small, she looks strong though, of course. All careers look strong, whether they're small or not. She hasn't noticed me, so I watch her for a few minutes. She's throwing knives with amazing accuracy. She doesn't miss a single bullseye. "Wow." I said. "You're really good." I must have startled her, because before I know it, she sends a knife right at me. I move, just in time, and it flies pass me, missing me by a centimetre. "Watch it." I growled.

"Don't speak to me like that. I wont miss next time" she growled back.

A girl with a temper, I like it. "What are you doing here? I thought I was the only one that trained after hours" I ask, trying to calm myself down.

"I'm volunteering today. I thought I should get in some extra practise" she says, turning her back to me and throwing some more knives.

"You're volunteering?" I ask, raising my eyebrow.

"Yes. I am." she snapped.

"Well, what do you know, looks like I'm meeting my district partner early." I say.

She turned around, eyeing me suspiciously. "what do you mean?" she asked.

"I'm volunteering too. It's why I'm here." Her eyes flickered with fear, for a moment, as she studied me. I'm a lot bigger than her, a lot stronger, and I look a lot more intimidating.

"Good for you" she pouted as she turned around.

I had no reply, so instead I took a spear and started on my aim. Spears aren't my strong point. I don't have the best aim in the world, certainly not as good as that girl, but I'm not bad. Swords are my thing. They're what I use. I aimed and threw a spear, and it hit the dummy in the left arm. "Damn" I said. The girl must have heard me, because out of the corner of my eye, I saw her turn and watch me. I picked up another one, and threw again. It got a little closer to the bullseye, I was happy about that, but it still aggravated me.

"Look, before you shoot, breathe in, deep. Aim it up, breathe out, take a moment to make sure you're fully lined up, take a deep breath in again, and as you breathe out, shoot." the girl instructed, walking over to me. I did as she said, and it got even closer to the bullseye. "After years of practise, it gets easier. Take your time, and breathe and you'll hit the bullseye. I know you can hardly take your time in the arena, but if you learn to do it quickly, you wont need to take it slowly."

"Thanks." I say.

"No problem." she says, once she's by me. "Spears and throwing things clearly aren't your thing, so what is?"

"Swords." I say, bluntly. If she's going to be my partner, why is she trying to get to know me? I'm just going to end up killing her.

"Knives are mine."

"I see. You're pretty good" I smiled.

"Thanks" she returned my smile. I studied her face for a second. She's very pretty. Her long, dark brown hair curled around her petite face. Her eyes were hazel, I had to remind myself not to get lost in them. They were beautiful. She isn't my usual type, but maybe if we were meeting under different circumstances, I wouldn't have minded dating her. I liked her temper. She seemed very much like me. She seemed stubborn, but strong, willing and determined.

We trained in silence for a couple hours, me working on my aim with spears and her just having fun throwing knives at anything and everything, until suddenly I hear her come up to me. "Want a break?" She asked. "My mom gave me a bit of food to bring, in case I got hungry. You can share some with me?"

"Sure." I say, trying hard not to sound harsh and cold. I don't want to get to know her, not if she's going to volunteer too, but she's being so polite, it's not right if I just shut her out, completely.

"So, why are you volunteering?" she asked, after a moments silence.

"I feel ready. I think if I don't do it this year, I might not get the chance. My dad would be disappointed if I didn't. Probably make me feel like I'm a coward. Why are you?"

"My mom and dad are making me. I don't really want to, but they want me to, so I have to." she says, quietly.

The thought of her parents making her volunteer, made me sad. My dad would never force me to volunteer, if I didn't volunteer, he would be disappointed in me, but he'd never make me if I didn't want to, she couldn't be much younger than me, a year or two, at the most, but she was small. Brilliant with a knife, but still, small. There's no guarantee that she would actually win.

"That sucks" I say, really not knowing what else I could say.

"Yeah." she sighs. "So, what's your name?"

"Cato. You?"

"Clove." She smiles. "How old are you?"

"17. You must be what, 12?" I laugh.

"15, actually" she scowls. Her scowl makes me laugh again, which only makes her scowl some more.

"Smile, it suits you more." I say.

"Better?" She asks, giving me a girlish smile.

"Yep." I say.

"I best go home. Got to get ready for the reaping. How exciting!" she sighed, faking enthusiam.

"Me too, actually." I say, getting up to leave with her.

We talk about training, some more as we walk home. It turns out she lives quite near me, so I walk her home, before carrying onto my house.

_Wow, that girl. _I think. _She's really quite incredible. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, thanks to the people who have favourited/put an alert on for this, it really does mean a hell of a lot to me! Well, I really hope you like this chapter! If there's anything you want me to include in future chapters, anything you wanna' know, let me know, and I'll try work it into the future chapters. Thankyou so much for reading. Review, let me know what you think. Would mean a lot to me to know what you honestly think :)! x**

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Chapter 2

"Ma' I'm home" I called as I walked through the front door. The smell of fresh cookies made my mouth water.

"I'm in the kitchen, love." she called back.

"Mmm. They smell so good!" I say, leaning against the doorframe. "Can I have one?"

"No. They're for later." my mom said.

"So, for when I'm not here?" I ask.

"For before you go." she looks at me, sadness in her eyes. "Please, Cato. Don't go."

"I have to, Ma'"

"You don't have to, at all!" She snapped. "You just want to! For whatever reason, you want to risk your life. And for what? We have enough money, a nice enough house, we're well fed, and we've got good enough lives. What more could you possibly want, Cato?"

"You just don't understand, mom. I've trained for this for so long. Dad has brought me up, making me believe this is what I have to do. So, I have to do it. I'm sorry." There was a long silence. "I met a girl today, Ma'" I said, quietly.

"What's she like?" She asked, not meeting my gaze.

"She seems nice enough." I shrug.

"Then stay home, be with her instead, Cato" She whispered.

"She's volunteering today, like me." I say.

"Stay home, Cato. Wait for her, be with her when she gets back, instead."

"I can't do that, Ma'. What if she doesn't come back? This is only more of a reason for me to go. I can be with her, even just for a while. If I don't come back, I can at least do everything in my power to get her to come back. I could even save her. She's the type of person I think I could love, ma'"

"How can you think that after only knowing her for a few hours?"

"I don't know. She just seems like the kind of person I could really care about. She's real pretty, with beautiful eyes. She's stubborn. Got a temper like me, too. She's different than most girls. I'm not saying I do love her, or care about her, I don't. But, I could." My mom looked at me for a minute. Studying my face.

"Go get ready, Cato. You'll have to look your best if you're volunteering." she sighed. Without another word, I walked to my room.

I took a long shower, washing away all the sweat from my training session. I stood in the shower thinking about what it'll be like in the Capitol. After I had been under the running water for what I judged to be about half an hour, I hesitantly got out. I found my best suit, and slowly put it on. I lead down on my bed, staring at my ceiling. Why is my mom being like this today? She was perfectly fine before, when I said I wanted to volunteer. She was okay with it. She didn't mind, and now all of a sudden she's trying to convince me not too? No. This is my year. This is the year I'm going to win. This time next year, I could even be a mentor, if Brutus gives it up. Ever since he won the games he's been the boys mentor. He's the only male victor left in district two. I'm not sure if he'd actually give it up. You don't argue with him though. If he says something, you do it. He's not someone you want to mess with. His name is 'Brutus' for a reason. He's brutal.

I hear the door downstairs slam shut, and then a muffled voice, indicating my dads return from work. "Cato!" He shouts up the stairs. "Get down here. Now. It's nearly time for the reaping" I slowly make my way out of my bedroom, giving it one last glance. I don't know if I'm going to ever see it again. I'm going to do everything I can to get home, of course. I was trained to become a killing machine. I was trained to win. But, things don't always work out that way.

"Cato! I said now! My dad shouted up the stairs again, impatiently.

"Hang on. I'm coming" I snapped. He's too impatient.

"Hurry up, we don't have all day."

"Oh, Cato!" My mom cried when she saw me. "You look so handsome!"

"Thanks, ma'" I smiled. I could see tears in her eyes, again, threatening to make an appearance. "Come here, silly. Don't cry, ma'" I say, hugging her, tightly. I heard her sniffle in my chest and then came muffled sobs as she failed to control herself.

"Pull your self together, woman" my dad ordered. My mom backed away from me, slowly.

"I'm fine" she says, quietly, wiping the tears from her eyes. "ready to go?"

"Yes. If you are" I say.

"You mean, if I'm ready to send my baby off to fight to the death? Of course I'm not" she said, trying to force a laugh.

"Lets go" my dad said, gruffly, grabbing my mom's hand and pulling her towards the door.

Everybody was making their way to the Justice Building. The reapings were mandatory for the whole district, even the people who weren't eligible to be in the games. They sent Peacekeepers round to everybody's houses to see if anybody was missing it. The only acceptable reason for missing the reaping is that you're on your death bed, and if you are on your death bed, you still have to watch on the television.

The square is big, so it manages to fit everybody in, easily. Later on tonight, there will be a celebration for the tributes. Two families however, will most probably be shut away in their houses. Being a tribute is an honour for you and your family, here, but if you volunteer or you're reaped, your family still grieves you. They still wont want to celebrate you going off to your death. My family, and possibly Clove's family, will probably be home tonight, while everybody else celebrates us leaving them, us going off to fight for our lives. My dad will probably want to celebrate with them, but my mom wont. My mom will lock herself in our home, refusing to go out. From what Clove said, it seems like her parents will want to be out celebrating too.

I give my mom a hug and reassure her I'll be fine, again, before going to stand with the rest of the boys my age. I look at the two large glass bowls full of slips with thousands of names. My name will be on 7 of them slips. No matter what the outcome, I will be the male tribute for my district. I will be going to the Capitol.

I look around the girls section, trying to find Clove. I see her, she looks slightly nervous. I wonder what she's nervous about. I know she didn't want to go, but lets face it, she's probably got as much chance of winning as I do, with how skilled she is with a knife. Clove looks over at me and gives me a half smile. "Good luck" she mouths.

"You too" I mouth back. I look forward, again. My eyes locked on the stage. Soon I will be up there. There are three chairs to the left of the stage. One for the Mayor and two for Brutus and whoever the female mentor is going to be this year. I let my eyes leave the stage for a second and look around me. Nobody is as tall or big as me, I look like I'm the strongest here. My eyes go back to the stage as the Mayor takes to the microphone.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. We are here today, to offer up one male and one female to participate in the 74th Annual Hunger Games. As you are aware, the Hunger Games were created to make sure that the rebellion that destroyed District Thirteen 74 years ago does not happen again." He said. "Sapphire, would you do the honours of choosing which young man and lady takes on the glorious task of representing district two?"

"I would be honoured" Sapphire, district two's escort said. "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favour"

Sapphire was clearly from the Capitol. Her short pixie hair cut was bright green, and she had tattoos all over her hands and a few over her face. It's not as extravagant as some people from the Captiol, but it's bad enough. I started to think about all of the weird trends they have over there and promise myself that no matter what I would never amount to looking like one of them.

"Clove Jacobs!" Sapphire beamed.

Clove? What are the odds! I looked over to Clove, her face lit up as she made her way to the stage. She shook Sapphire's hand and stood next to her.

"Are there any volunteers?" Sapphire asked. A girl went to step forward.

"No." Clove growled. "No. I want to be the Tribute." The girl shrugged and stepped back again.

"How exciting, you must be a strong contender if you're so happy to go into the games!" Sapphire beamed again. Clove smiled, politely, at her. "Now, for the boys."

I eagerly watched as her tattooed hand entered the large glass bowl and shuffle around for a minute. She pulled out a small piece of folded paper and opened it. I stepped forward. "I volunteer!" I shouted, before she could read out the name. "I volunteer to be tribute" I said again, once she looked at me.

"Brilliant." Sapphire said, eyeing me up. "What's your name?"

"Cato Hadley" I said as I made my way up onto the stage.

"Brilliant" she said again. "So, ladies and gentlemen here we have. District two's tributes for the 74th annual Hunger Games. Clove Jacobs and Cato Hadley!"

I turned to Clove to shake her hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She gave me a cute smile and squeezed my hand back. "Looks like the odds were in your favour today" I smiled.

"Yeah, looks like it" she said, before letting go of my hand.

"Come this way, please. I'll show you to your rooms. You'll have one hour to say goodbye, then you'll be going to the train station. You'll have 15 minutes each session to say good bye, even if you have nobody else coming after. Got it?" a Peacekeeper said, leading us through the Justice Building.

"Got it" me and Clove said together.

"You'll be in here, boy. You, girl, follow me" he said.

"See ya' later, Titch." I smiled. If looks could kill, I'd be dead. Clove gave me the deadliest look I'd ever seen, which of course, made me laugh.

I'm alone in the room and I can't help but admire it's beauty. It massive, even for me, and it's beautiful. I sit down in the velvet chair and relax a little. If this is what the Capitol's like, I can't wait to get there. I'm not kept waiting long, before my parents burst into the room. I can see my mom's trying her hardest not to cry.

"Well done, son. I'm proud of you" my dad beamed.

"Easy, dad. I've not won yet" I remind him.

"I know. But you're taking the chance I never did. You'll win this, easy, son. Look at your competition. That girl's got nothing on you" he said.

"She's actually amazing with a knife" I said, defending her.

"Is that the girl?" My mom asked.

"Yes."

"What girl?" My dad demanded.

"I met a girl, this morning, while I was training."

"So..?"

"So nothing. I just told ma' I'd met her and that she was rally good. She has a strong chance of winning."

"Not against you son."

"Against anyone, dad. Including me" I said quietly.

"Nonsense." he said. "Nobody deserves to win these games more than you."

"It doesn't go down to who deserve to win them though does it?" my mom snapped. She turned to look at me. "Be safe, Cato. Please, be safe. I don't care about the money or the fame or the house. I just want my boy home safe"

I gave her a tight hug. "I'll be safe, ma'" I promise. I let go of her and sit back in my chair, unsure of what to say next. What else can I say? Their son is going off to a place where he could die. How could I say anything to them to help them through that. "I love you, both" I say after a few minutes of silence.

"We know, son." My dad says. Silence. Again. We stay like that until a Peacekeeper comes to take them away. I gave them one last hug, even my dad, and told them I loved them again, before they left. As my mom got out of the room, I heard her weep. I shut the door and went back to the chair, unsure of what to do now. I had tons of friends at school, but none I was particularly close to. None that would really want to come see me. I've had tons of girlfriends, but none of them relationships had ended very well, so it's doubtful they'd want to come to say goodbye. So I just sat there, in silence, staring at the ceiling.

After a few minutes the door opened, I looked over to see Sash standing there. "Oh, hey Sash. What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I wanted to come see you, before you go" she purred.

"Why?"

"I don't know when, or if, I'm going to see you again, so I thought I needed to tell you this." she hesitated.

"Tell me what, Sash?"

"I think I love you, Cato"

_Oh crap._ I think. I loved Sash, I really did. She was beautiful, sexy, funny, kind, but I had never thought of her in any other way than a friend, how was I supposed to let her down? "oh." was all I managed to say.

"Oh?" she blushed and looked down to the floor. "What does that mean?"

"It means, that I don't think of you in that way, Sash. You're great, you really are, but you're just... You're not right for me." I say.

"I understand. Anything I can do to change your mind?" She smiled, flirtatiously, like in the training centre.

"No." I laughed.

"Come on, I'm sure there is" she said, sitting over beside me.

"There's really not." I say. Before I know it, she's taken my face in her hands and is kissing me. I tried to pull away, but her hand on the back of my head was holding my face there. After a minute she finally stopped.

"Did that work?" she asked.

"No, Sash."

"Oh. Worth a try." she said. "I'll be going to kill myself because of my humiliation, now" she laughed.

"Sash, come here"

"what?" she asked, sitting beside me again.

"I love you, but not in any way other than a friend. You understand that, don't you?" she gives a quick nod of her head. "Good. I'm sorry, Sash. Honestly."

"It's fine" she says in a small voice. "I knew you didn't feel the same. I'm not like the other girl."

"What other girl?" I ask, shocked.

"The one that was training with you earlier, your partner. I saw you two together, and I don't know, you looked good together, you looked, happy, I guess. Like something could happen between you to." she shrugs.

"Nothings going to happen, Sash. There's twenty-four of us, and one comes out. I have to be that one" I say.

"Good." she nods, tears filling her piercing blue eyes. "Good luck, Cato. I hope you're ready for what you've got yourself into"

"I am." I smile.

"I'll go, leave you alone. I'm sure my time will be up any time now, anyway." she gives me a long, tight hug. "Come home, Cato. I love you"

"I love you too, Sash." I say, quietly, before letting her go. "Now, go before you start crying." I give her my best smile.

"See ya' soon, I hope" she says, when she's finally out the door.

I'm on my own again, slumped back down in the chair. I find myself thinking about Clove. What was she doing? Had she already seen everybody too? Was she thinking about me? About the games? Was she scared? I wanted to go to her, hold her, let her know things were going to be okay, and that I would do as much as I could to help her survive, in case I didn't. But, I can't, There will be plenty of time to talk to her when we get to the Capitol. She doesn't seem like the type of girl that would want me to say those things to her, or reassure her. She's the type of girl that can take care of herself.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! So, basically thankyou, again, to everyone who's reading this. I've realised I'm putting in a hell of a lot of dialogue. Is that okay with everyone? I'm trying to not have as much, so you know more of what Cato's thinking. Let me know what you want, less dialogue/if the amount of dialogue is fine or whatever. Remember to review, and stuff. Thanks guys :3!**

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Chapter 3

"Come on, boy, time to go to the train station" a Peacekeeper said, gruffly, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting.

"Finally" I mumbled.

"What was that boy?" he demanded.

"I said finally." The Peacekeeper came over to me, squaring his shoulders, I knew this look, I gave people this look, more often than not. I squared my shoulders, sticking out my chest. He was older than me, but smaller, so I towered over him. I looked him over, and realised I was probably far stronger than him too, he must have realised too, because he started to back away.

"You're lucky you're on the way to the Capitol, boy. I wouldn't stand for someone speaking to me like that, any other time" he spat.

"You wouldn't do anything, even if I gave you the chance" I snarled.

"'Gave me the chance'? Ha, you're hilarious, boy." he snorted.

"And you're just lucky I don't have any weapons on me right now"

"Is that a threat, boy?" he said, squaring up to me, once again. He stood as tall as he could get, and stared into my eyes. I saw something in his eyes that I knew he didn't mean for me to see; fear. He was scared of me. Good job too, because if I wasn't going to the Capitol, I would kill him right here. A simple twist of his neck, easy as that.

"Cato?" I heard a familiar voice call. It was a Capitol voice. Sapphire's voice.

"Hi, Sapphire." I say, still staring at the Peacekeeper.

"What on Earth is going on here?" she demanded.

"The boy was giving me trouble"

"I told you to get him to the train station, not stare into his eyes like some love-sick puppy" she said, angrily. I tried my best to hide my laugh, but I knew nobody was fooled.

"Take him yourself. I'll go get the girl." he said, finally, and left us a lone.

"You need your temper sorted out, young man." Sapphire said, turning to me.

"No, I don't." I tried to keep my voice steady, and calm, but I knew she could hear it raising. Whenever someone brings up my temper and my anger, it makes me even worse.

"Yeah, that's really convinced me." she said. "We're going to wait for Clove. But, listen to me. Do not make a scene with the Peacekeeper again. Got it?" I looked at her, forced a smile, and then looked away. I knew if I said anything the anger in my voice would be too hard to disguise, so there was no other way of trying to make myself look calm. I knew I had to sort my anger out, but honestly, I'm going into an arena where I have to fight for my survival. Why would I want to sort it out now? Sorting it out would make things worse for myself, I need to be feared. I need them to know that it's either be killed by someone else, or be killed by me. I need them to know, I'm the one that's going to win.

The Peacekeeper came back with Clove after a couple of minutes. He was looking straight ahead, until he spotted me and Sapphire waiting for them. He slowly looked to the ground and refused to make any sort of eye contact with either of us. "Here's the girl" he said, once they reached us.

"My name is Clove. Don't just call me 'the girl'" she said. I could tell she was getting angry too. He looked at her, and then shook his head and started to walk away.

"What is the matter with the two of you?" Sapphire sighed.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You two have serious anger problems. You know that right?"

"Yes." me and Clove said together. I looked over to Clove, to see she was already looking at me, smiling. I gave her the best smile I could and then looked back to Sapphire.

"We were trained to be killers, do you honestly think that we'd be like sweet little angels or something?" I snorted.

"Come on. We have to go, or we'll be late" Sapphire said, ignoring me.

The car ride to the train station took about fifteen minutes. All around there were people from district two waving us off. When we got to the train station, there were so many people with cameras trying to be the first to get a picture of District two's tributes. That's what it's going to be like, now. Everywhere I go, I'm going to see a camera, pointing at me, getting their pictures of the tributes, and then eventually, getting their pictures of the Victor of the Hunger Games. I'm determined it will be me.

We finally got onto the train after five minutes of constant pushing to get past people. I've got to say, that is not something I'm going to look forward too when I win. I looked around the train, it was huge, it wasn't much different to the room in the Justice Building, but it was clearly a lot bigger.

"Beautiful, right?" Sapphire said, making her way to the food cart. "Eat whatever you want. The Capitol is only a few hours away, we should be there by about 10, okay? The rest of the reapings will be on in a minute, so you better watch them, you know, get to know who you're up against."

"Excuse me, Sapphire, but I think that's our job." an unfamiliar voice said, coming from behind me. I turned around to see Brutus and Lyme standing outside the train. "Well, go on, move, so we can get on." Both me and Clove moved quickly to the other side of the train. I'm not scared of most people, but Brutus was one person I was scared of. He was tall, and big built, and he permanently looked angry. Lyme wasn't much different. She was middle-aged, about the same age as Brutus. She was very tall, over 6 feet, and very muscular, but her face was unforgettable. She was brutal as well. Most people from District two are, but these two in particular, are probably the worst, along with Enobaria. I was just glad she wasn't mentoring. She had her teeth surgically altered after she won her games by tearing open tributes' necks with her teeth. She's worse than Brutus!

"Oh. Sorry." Sapphire squeaked.

"Saph, how many times do I have to tell you, he's joking. He's a big softy, really" Lyme laughed, nudging Brutus. "Right, Brute?"

"No. Not right, Lyme" he scowled at her. "So, let's see who we have this year. Come over here, the pair of you."

Me and Clove hesitantly walked forward, and watched as him and Lyme looked us over, walked around us slowly, and then looked us over again. "They seem like a good pair." Lyme said, eventually.

"Yep." Brutus said, nodding in agreement. "Clove, isn't it?" Clove nodded, slowly.

"What can you do? You look strong, but forgive me for this, you're small"

"I can throw knives, and fight and I'm a fast runner." she said, trying hard not to shoot Brutus evil looks.

"How well can you throw?" he asks.

"Well enough" she shrugged.

"She can hit a bullseye, every single time. Whether the target is moving or not. She nearly killed me this morning" I say, backing her up. "She missed me by a centimetre."

"That was on purpose. I didn't actually want to kill him, just scare him. He scared me, so instinctively, I just threw a knife" she added quickly.

"Right." he looked to Lyme and they both nodded at each other. "Cato, right? What can you do?"

"I'm fast, I'm strong, I'm pretty good with spears, just my aim needs a little more practise."

"Right." Brutus and Lyme looked to each other and nodded again. "Seems like we've got a pretty good pair this year, hell we might even have a winner"

Clove and I smiled to each other. I wonder what she's thinking? Is she thinking of a way to kill me? Is she wondering how far she'll get, or even if I'll kill her? "Let's go watch the rest of the reapings" Clove smiled at me again. "Like Sapphire said, it would be good to see who we're up against"

"See, you should always listen to me" Sapphire squeaked from the corner of the room, everyone turned too look at her. I didn't even realise she was still here.

"Oh, Saph, we do listen to you. We just have a lot of other things to do" Lyme laughed, walking over to her. She put her arm around her and guided her to the next compartment with the television and couch, and sat down beside her. We all followed and sat down to watch the recap of the reapings.

District one was up first, two decent looking tributes, both volunteers. The girl, Glimmer, I think, was tall, sexy, and had long blonde hair, the outfit she was wearing looked like it was a size too small. It was tight and revealing, only making her look more sexy. The boy, Marvel, looked strong and tall. Good, we're going to have strong allies this year.

"That Glimmer looks like she could be trouble" Sapphire said, quietly.

"Why?" Clove asked.

"Look at what she's wearing. She just, doesn't look like a nice person." Sapphire shrugged.

District three's tributes didn't stand out, at all. The girl from District four looked fairly strong, she might be able to kill off a few weaker ones for us, the boy from district four made no impression on me. Neither did the tributes through to District 11. The girl from District eleven was tiny, she made her way to the stage gracefully, she reminded me of some sort of bird. She didn't look frightened, she looked confident, like she might have a chance. The boy from District eleven was huge. He was probably bigger than me, which surprised me, because District eleven was one of the underfed districts. They never lasted long, and they were never big and strong like him.

District twelve was the most surprising. They actually had a volunteer. The girl volunteered for her sister, which was shocking. Families do whatever they can to protect each other, but when the games come into it, you're on your own. Especially in places like twelve. I couldn't help but admire her bravery, for a minute. Clearly she wasn't going to win. She wasn't going to make an impression on the sponsors, surely she knew that. As soon as the training scores come up, and after the parade, everyone will have forgotten her, even if she had volunteered for her sister. I could see why she did though, her sister was tiny, like the girl in eleven, she would be dead within the first night. Everybody must have adored her, she looked like a sweet innocent little girl. The whole of district twelve made some odd gesture that I'd never seen before, once she got up onto the stage, nobody applauded, or made a sound, which was weird.

"That's a gesture to show thanks." Brutus explained. "They do it to say goodbye, I think, and thanks. I guess that little girl was really important to them"

I looked at the girl on stage again, she was really scared, I could tell that much, her face was full of fear and pain, but there was a slight flicker of happiness in her eyes, probably because her sister was safe for another year, at least. The boy that got picked, looked strong. He was average height, with blonde hair, but quite strong, which surprised me again. Nobody from district twelve is ever strong.

"Well, looks like we've got an easy year" Clove said, cheerily.

"Watch it. That boy from eleven looks like he might give you a hard time. The girl from his district too, watch out for her" Brutus said.

"The girl from eleven? What is she going to do, kill me by her cuteness?" Clove laughed.

"Did you not see the look on her face? She looked confident. Don't let her size and age get in the way"

"She shouldn't have been picked. She's too young" Sapphire cried. "Why didn't anybody volunteer for her?"

"Because none of them want to die" I said, softly.

"I hate these stupid games!" She cried again, before walking out of the compartment.

"Is she always like this?" Clove asks, raising her eyebrow.

"Yes. Every year she will cry and complain about how much she hates the games. As soon as they start, she's just like every other Capitol person and can't get enough of them" Lyme sighed. "Come on Brute. We got some stuff to go talk through." Lyme and Brutus got up and quickly left the compartment, whispering things to each other, that I didn't quite catch.

"So, what do you think about the two from twelve this year?" I asked, after a minutes silence.

"I don't know. They surprised me. They both looked terrified, but, the girl at least had a choice, it makes me wonder if the look was just a way to make us believe she's weak, and scared, but really might be a strong contender."

"Remember the girl like that from seven, a few years ago? She got right to the end pretending she didn't have a clue what she was doing, and was weak, so nobody bothered her. She turned out to be the complete opposite."

"Oh yeah, Johanna Mason, right? I remember her. Maybe she does, too. But, if she won that way, I doubt Johanna would be that happy about it. I've heard she's quite a handful" she laughed, softly.

"Yeah, me too. But, it makes sense, right. I mean, if she knew that she was going to die, why would she take her sisters place."

"Maybe she just really loves her sister and doesn't want to see her go through all of this. I'd probably do it too, if she was my sister. She looked like a right sweetheart." She shrugged.

"What's this? Does Clove Jacobs actually have a soft side?" I teased.

"No." She snapped. I laughed, which made her shoot me an evil look, which caused me to laugh even harder. "Shut up, Cato. Remember what I said earlier? I wont miss next time" She reached down to the knife she had hidden away in her shoe.

"You actually have a knife in your shoe?" I asked, after I finally stopped laughing.

"Yes. It makes me feel safe. I always carry it around."

"If you wanted to feel safe, you just volunteered yourself for the wrong game, Clove" she shot me an evil look, again, which started me off laughing once more.

"Whatever" she said, tucking the knife away in her shoe, before getting up to leave.

I'm left alone, on the couch, with something to do with the games on. That's all that's ever on TV, just pointless things to do with the hunger games, that you've probably seen a thousand times. They show the mentors for this years tributes, and then a quick recap of their time in the games.

I find myself thinking about Clove again, which I try to remind myself that I have to stop. I can't think about her, as a friend and especially anything more than a friend. Not where we're going. I think about what it would have been like if we had met before today. I wish I could have gotten to know her. I might have even wanted something more to happen. She's different from the other girls. Most other girls take one look at me, and fall to my feet, can't help but flirt with me whenever they get the chance, always want something more to happen. I don't mind it, most of the time. It's flattering, I guess, but I like that Clove isn't like that. I like how her priorities are different, than just wanting to get me into her bed. It adds to her attractiveness. It makes me wish I could have known her before today.


	4. Chapter 4

**Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuys. I'M BACK. I'm so sorry I haven't updated in like, forever. Oh God. D; i was away for like two and a half weeks, and I thought I'd be able to update while I was away but the internet wouldn't work and it was all messed up. I'm going to post like, two or three chapters today, just because I haven't posted in so long. Review, lemme know what you think. Again, I'm so so so sorry about not updating for so long :(! It was a last minute trip and when I did get back it wouldn't let me update, so I've only just managed to. :( LOVE YOU GUYS. **

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Chapter 4

We arrived at the Capitol at around 10, like Sapphire said, it seemed like it took forever. Clove refused to speak to me again after I'd laughed at her, so I spent my the time in my compartment, thinking to myself. When we get to the Capitol, hundreds of people are all around trying to get their first glimpse of District two's tributes. I gave them my winning smile, and squared up, making sure my chest stuck out, so they could see my strength.

We're taken to our floor, and shown to our rooms. "Right, get to sleep, both of you. Long day, tomorrow. You will have a couple hours to do whatever, when you wake up, and then your stylists will come and spend the next few hours getting you ready for the opening parade. Cato, you'll probably have a few more hours to yourself than Clove. The girls always take longer to get ready."

"Good night, guys!" Sapphire calls as me and Clove wander out of the living room.

"Night, Cato." Clove smiled.

"Oh, you're talking to me now?" I laughed.

"It's either that or spend the next few weeks ignoring you, no point in that." she shrugs.

"Well, night, then." I say and carry on to my room. My room is double the size of my room back home. I collapse on my bed, thinking about the day. Is it possible that just this morning I was at home in district two? It doesn't feel real. I've wanted to be here for so long, now I'm actually happening, it feels like it's all just a dream. In just a few short days, I'll be in the arena, fighting for me life, with 23 other tributes. In just a few weeks, I'll be home, I know I will. Look at the other tributes, they don't stand a chance against me.

Somewhere between all my thoughts I must have drifted off to sleep, because the next thing I know, is a small knock on the door. "What?" I call sleepily.

"Can I come in?" Someone asked.

"Hmm" I called back, turning over to face the door. Clove was walking over to my bed. "Clove? What do you want? What time is it?" I closed my eyes hoping to fall back to sleep.

"I'm sorry. It's 4 am. I couldn't sleep." she said, sitting down on my bed.

"Why'd you come here?" I opened one of my eyes to look at her. Her eyes were full of fear and pain. I sat up, abruptly. "Clove, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Don't worry, I'm sorry, do you want me to go? I don't even know why I'm here."

"It's not nothing. I can see the look in your eyes, you look terrified."

"I just... I had a bad dream. It's nothing. God, that probably sounds stupid, I'm supposed to be tough. I'm a Career for Gods sake." she laughed, softly.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I was in the arena, and the Capitol was taking everybody I knew, everybody I cared about and they were torturing them. My mom, my dad, my little sister, my baby brother, my friends, even you. I don't know why. They were just torturing everyone, right in front of me. And the tribute from eleven, he was there, and he was coming after me, and then he stopped, he just suddenly disappeared, but everybody was still being tortured, in different ways. I didn't know how to stop them, I could hear all the screams. It sounded so real, it felt so real. I just couldn't bare to hear it, and there were different things coming after me, different kind of muttations the Capitol made, big bears that could walk and run, and were so strong. Different kind of beasts that were programmed to go after me. It just felt so real, Cato." She said, suddenly bursting into tears.

"Clove, come here" I say, waiting for her to come over to me. I put my arms around her and held her, while she cried. "It was just a dream. I'm safe, your family are safe, all of your friends are safe. They're not going to do anything, not at all" I said, softly.

"I'm sorry, Cato." she cried.

"What are you sorry for?"

"All of this. Coming to your room in the middle of the night, not being strong, crying to you. I'm a Career, I'm am strong, now I just look weak and stupid" she sniffled, turning to me. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. I'm here, whenever you need me." I whispered, wiping the tears off her face.

"Thank you. I just needed to know you were okay, I think. I can't see if my family are okay, so you're the only one I could think of."

"I'm here, I'm fine, the Capitol aren't going to torture me. Or you for that matter. I promise" I gently squeeze her round the waist.

"Thank you, Cato" She whispered, leaning back into me.

"Want to spend the rest of the night in here?" I suggested.

"Yeah, okay." she nodded, slowly. "Only if you're sure."

"I wouldn't ask if I wasn't sure" I smiled.

"You're really sweet, you know that" she laughed.

"That's just because I'm tired. I wouldn't be like it otherwise"

"Of course you wouldn't. You're just a big tough guy. You know I'm not gonna' be scared of you any more, after this"

"You were scared of me?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

"A little bit." She shrugged. "You're so big, and strong, and you could easily kill me. You have such a bad temper."

"So do you. You're almost as bad as me" I laughed. "Any way, you could easily kill me. I don't think I'm fast enough, to dodge one of your knives."

"You probably are. I'm not that good."

"Are you kidding? Your aim is amazing"

"Thanks." Even in the dim light I could see her cheeks glow red.

"I wish I met you before the all of this" I whispered.

"Me too." she whispered back. I leaned my head back against the wall, and listened to the sound of Clove's breathing. After a while, her breathing was deep and slow. I knew she must have finally fallen asleep. I wasn't very comfortable, but I didn't want to move in case I woke her up, so I stayed where I was, thinking about the conversation. What had she thought I meant by wanting to meet her sooner? What _had _I meant? She must care about me, right? Even a little bit. I was glad to help her feel safe, even just for a while, but we're going into the arena soon. Soon, we wont be friends, we'll be enemies. One of us will kill the other. How can we go on like this, knowing that?

Once again, I drifted off to sleep without realising, because I got woken up by a knock on my door, again. "Cato? Do you know where Clove is?" Sapphire asked.

"Yeah, she's in here" I replied, trying to stay quiet so Clove wouldn't wake up.

"Why?"

"None of your business."

"Fine. Breakfast is being served. Get out here" she said, angrily.

"Fine." I said, bluntly. "Clove?" I call, shaking her, slightly.

"what?" she asked, sleepily.

"It's time for breakfast. We need to get up"

"Oh." she said, snuggling closer into me. "I don't want too"

"We have to. Brutus and Lyme might come after us otherwise" I laughed, holding her tightly.

"Fine. Don't want to get on the wrong side of them" she sighed.

"Exactly. Especially Brutus. Even I'm scared of him" I laughed, slightly.

"Cato... Thank you for last night. I know it must have been hard for you, I know you have that tough guy image to keep" she looked at me, smiling. Her beautiful hazel eyes, searching for something in mine. "But really, it did mean a lot."

"It's fine. Honestly. But, tell anyone about my soft side, and I will kill you" I say, trying to make my face hard, and serious.

"Ha, you can try" she snorts. "Come on. I'm hungry." she breaks away from me and slowly walks out of my room, checking to make sure I'm following her.

"You know, this isn't going to look good." I whisper.

"I know. We should have thought about that before" she laughed. When we got to the dining room, everybody was staring at us. "Morning, guys" she said cheerily.

"You seem happy" Brutus snorts. I see Lyme nudging him quickly.

"Brute. Don't embarrass them. What they do is up to them" Lyme says.

"We didn't do anything."

"So why did you sleep together?" He snorts again. "I was as young as you, once. I know what it's like"

"Clove couldn't sleep, so she came to talk to me, and we fell asleep. That's all" I say, trying to keep my voice calm. Already I can feel the anger inside of me.

"It's true. It was my fault, really. I had a bad dream, so I went to see Cato" Clove explained.

"I think it's sweet" Lyme smiled.

"Sweet? It wont be sweet when they're in the arena, not getting sponsors because they're too loved up" Brutus said, gruffly.

"We're not 'loved up' at all." I snap. Everybody stares at me for a moment. I can tell that no one is used to people snapping at Brutus.

"Sit down and eat." Brutus says.

"Sorry." I mumble. I wouldn't normally apologise, but it's Brutus. I wouldn't want to be on his bad side any other time, but especially not now he's my mentor. I need to stay on his good side to get sponsor gifts, while I'm in the arena.

We ate in silence for a while, before Sapphire came in. "So, are you excited about the Opening Parade?" She asked us.

"I guess." I shrugged.

"Yes. I can't wait to see what we'll be wearing!" Clove smiled.

"Clove, your prep team will be here in two hours. Cato, yours will be here in four. They will make you look acceptable, before you meet your stylists. Your stylists will get you into your outfits, explain what they want you to do and then bring you down to the Chariots. When the other tributes are there, you will have a few minutes to introduce yourselves to those you want to be in an alliance with. So, one and four." Brutus explained.

"And the boy from eleven" I said, looking at Clove. "Is that okay?" I asked, unsure, suddenly remembering her dream about him. She nodded wearily.

"You can try, but I doubt he'll want to."

"But we're the Careers. Everyone wants to get in with us."

"Not everyone. Don't get ahead of yourself, kid" Brutus laughed.

"Whatever. I'm going for a shower." I got up to leave, feeling everyone staring at me. My anger was boiling in side me. I don't even know why. Nothing has been said that should make me feel angry, but I am. I don't like being told what to do, people talking to me like I'm some sort of kid. I know it's Brutus and Lyme's jobs to teach us, and to try help us and tell us what to do, but I hate it. I always have, even when I was younger. At training, when the teacher was trying to help us and tell me what to do, I used to flip out and just get so angry. It made it worse when everybody started saying I have anger problems. I know I should try to calm myself down, but Careers are supposed to be brutal, and be able to win these games. We're supposed to be angry and make people be afraid of us.

I got into the shower, which was double the size of a normal shower. Why does everything in the Capitol have to be so big? I'm not complaining, I can't wait to spend most of my time here, after I win the games, but I just don't get it. The shower contained hundreds of little buttons, some dispensed different scented soaps, others dispensed shampoos and the rest were different textured cloths to clean yourself with. It took me at least twenty minutes to manage to figure out the right things. It must be great to live here, but how do they get used to the hundreds of buttons all over the place? It's the same in my room. There are hundreds of buttons. I know I have some spare time later, so I make a mental note to try out a few.

While I'm in the shower, thousands of thoughts enter my head. How are my parents? Did they celebrate last night? Are they scared for me? Does my mom truly believe I can win? What will my home be like when I get out of the arena? Which tributes will I kill first? How many in total will I kill? Will I feel guilty? Will I be responsible for killing Clove? Will I kill any of the other Careers? What will the opening Parade be like? What will I be wearing? What will the other tributes be wearing? What will twelve be wearing? The opening parade costumes go on what your district does. District twelve do coal mining, so their costumes are normally them in coal mining outfits, or in black makeup. One year, they were completely naked and covered in coal dust, another they were all in black, with coal on their faces. They never make it past the few nights of the arena, so nobody ever really bothers with them. Not even their stylists, they don't care if they don't make an impression to everybody else. They know just as well as us that they're normally the first ones to go.

I reluctantly get out of the shower. Even in district two, you have to do a lot of work to get hot running water. Normally our showers have to be really quick, and the water isn't even that hot. Unlike here. Here, you can stay in the shower for as long as you want, with boiling water always beating down on you, never threatening to turn cold, if you've been in it for a little too long. I wonder if the showers in the Victors Village are like this? I could seriously get used to the Capitol life. I slowly dry myself with the towel, there might have been a quicker way, but I didn't trust pressing any more buttons right now, not after having so many different soaps and shampoos squirted over me. I can't even begin to think what I must smell like.

I walk back into my room, with the towel around my neck and head for the wardrobe. "Oh my god. Wow. Cato, I'm so sorry" Clove said. I turn around, to see Clove sat on my bed, covering her eyes and blushing like crazy.

"Clove? What are you doing here? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" I ask.

"I didn't want to spend the next two hours on my own. I knocked, but you didn't answer... So, I came in and waited for you to finish. Wow. Cato, really? Can you cover yourself up a bit?" I look down and suddenly become aware of my nakedness. I quickly take my towel from around my neck and tie it around my waist.

"Sorry. I didn't expect anyone to be in here when I came out the shower." I smiled. I should be embarrassed, most people probably would be, but I wasn't. It was more funny to see how uncomfortable Clove was.

"No. It's fine. It was my fault. I didn't expect you to come out fully naked." she laughed. "Wow. I'm really, really sorry."

"Hold on. Let me get some clothes on" I say, looking back towards the wardrobe. There were lots of fancy clothes, like the people here would wear, but none of it looked comfortable, so I kept skimming through until I saw a pair of sweat pants and a white tank top. I picked out some underwear and headed back to the bathroom to get dressed. Once I was fully dressed, I started to feel more comfortable. I started to feel like I was back home again, on my way to the training centre. I hadn't realised how much I missed home until I started thinking back on it. It's only been a day, and already I wanted to be back there.

When I got back into my room, Clove was still sat on my bed, and still blushing. "I'm so sorry" she said again.

"No. Really, it's fine. I'll just have to be more careful when I get out of the shower in future" I chucked lightly.

"No." she shook her head. "It's not fine. I'm so sorry. I'm so embarrassed"

"Shouldn't I be the one embarrassed? You did just see me fully naked." I said, sitting down beside her.

"I'm sorry about that." she laughed.

"There's no need to apologise. But, to be fair, does this mean I get to see you naked too?" I winked. She blushed again and looked at the floor.

"No." She laughed. "This was an accident. I really didn't mean it"

"I know. It's fine." I put my arm around her and instinctively she snuggled down closer to me. We sat in silence for a while. What was it about Clove that made me so calm? If it was anybody else, I would have wanted to kill them. Why is she so different? When I'm with her, my anger seems to just die down, it seems non-existent. It's dangerous for me. I have to survive these games. I can't let her get into my head like this, without her even knowing it. I have to be strong, be able to get angry. I have to be able to kill around her. I have to be prepared to kill _her_.


	5. Chapter 5

**Told you I'd update at least two :)! Hope you liked the last chapter. Review this please. :3 3**

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Chapter Five.

"Cato? Is Clove in here again?" Lyme asked.

"Yeah. Why?" I reply.

"Can I come in?"

"Of course" I say. Lyme came in and sat on the edge of my bed. She looked at us for a moment and her eyes filled with sadness.

"Clove. Your prep team is here. They're waiting in your room. You should go now, keep them from waiting too long" She smiled.

"I'll see you later, Clove." I smile, pulling my arm from around her.

"Bye. See you guys later" She waved as she was getting out of my room.

"Cato. What's going on with you two?" Lyme frowned.

"Nothing. Why?"

"It doesn't look like nothing. She's in here whenever she gets the chance. You're being all cute together, letting her sleep in your room at night" the sad look is back in her eyes, followed by pain.

"Lyme, we're just friends. That's all we can be. It's too dangerous for anything else. She came in here because she didn't want to be alone. She had a bad dream last night and she got scared, so I comforted her and she fell asleep here, that's all" I explained. I knew Lyme didn't believe me. She thought something else was going on.

"I know you, Cato. You might not know it, but I do know you. I know about your temper, and your anger and for the games that's fine. But, you seem different around Clove. I know I've hardly seen you two together, but, I don't think you'd do all of that for just anybody" she frowned again. "Do you want there to be something more? Please, don't lie to me. If me and Brute are going to help you, we need the truth."

"No." I say. It wasn't exactly a lie. I didn't want anything more to happen. Did I? No. I couldn't. I was just being kind and helping my district partner when she needed it.

"Okay..." She slowly nodded. "If you say you don't, then I believe you."

"I know, it's dangerous. How she makes me act. The way she gets in my head" I say quietly.

"It is. It's very dangerous. Remember, only one can survive. What if it's you and Clove left. What will you do? You have to be prepared to kill anyone and everyone, Cato"

I looked down at my hands and nodded. "I know."

"You don't think you could, do you?"

"No. But, I have to believe I can. To get back home. Even if it's her, I have to kill her." Lyme nodded again, slowly. I know she understands the determination to survive. Having to kill whoever it takes to mean your survival. I know she doesn't understand my situation, completely, I don't think her district partner made her feel this way, however it is that Clove makes me feel.

"I'm sorry this is happening to you, Cato. You both seem like good kids. If it was any other time, you two would have been good together. Just remember what game you volunteered for. Only one survives. You might be lucky. Someone else could kill her first." She got up and walked towards the door. At first I thought she was leaving, but instead she shut it and came to sit closer to me. "Promise me something?" I sensed the urgency in her voice.

"What?"

"If you feel something for her, tell her before it's too late. Please?"

"Okay... but wont that complicate things?" I asked.

"Maybe." she shrugged. "But, my biggest regret is not telling my district partner how I felt."

My eyes widened in shock. She does know how I feel. She does know what it's like to feel this weak around someone, like you'd do anything to protect them, like you couldn't ever stand to think about somebody hurting them. "You loved your partner?"

She gave a small, quick nod. "Yes. I told my mentor, I told her that I didn't think I could survive, because it meant him dying. I asked her if I should tell him. She said no, because if it got out, neither of us would survive. She said being in love made you weak. She told me that a Career in love would be the last thing the sponsors would want to see. So, I never told him. He was my best friend, he had been for years, it wasn't like I had just met him. I was lucky. It never came down to just me and him. We were in the last three and someone from district one killed him. I killed her, and then I won. But, I've regretted never telling him." Her large blue eyes filled with tears. It was hard for me to believe someone that tough, and brave and strong could be about to cry.

"Maybe your mentor was right. Maybe being in love makes you weak" I shrugged, looking back to the floor. I didn't want to see her cry. I looked up to her. She was so strong, and unforgettable, she wasn't supposed to cry.

"No. Cato. Don't think like that. Being in love makes you strong." From the corner of my eye, I could see her slowly wipe away tears. "I know, it doesn't look like it. But, it does."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, with the occasional sound of her sniffing. I didn't know what else to say. I wanted to get angry. I wanted to scream and shout and tell her she didn't know what she was talking about. I wanted her to know it's not the same situation. I've just met Clove. I don't love her. I couldn't love her. But, I'm not even sure if I believe that. If being in love makes you so strong, why am I feeling like this? Why am I always so calm with her? Why do I feel like if it's my life or hers in the arena, then it will be my life that's ending. Why do I feel the need to protect her no matter what. Not even caring about the consequences. "Nobody knows any of this, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone. Especially Brutus." Lyme said, quietly.

"Of course." I nodded.

"I'll come let you know when your prep team is here." She says, before getting up and leaving, shutting the door quietly behind her.

I sat on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to make sense of our conversation. Lyme was in love with her district partner. That was something I'd never guess. It explains a few things though, I guess. Why she had never got married or had children. I assumed it was because she didn't want to bring children into this world, after being in the arena herself, knowing what it was like. She wasn't bad looking. She was pretty, she could have even been beautiful when she was younger. She probably could have gotten any guy she wanted, especially being a victor. But now, I realise it was just because she was never over her partner. I try to think back to seeing her in the arena, trying to put a face to who she's on about, but I can't. I'd never seen enough of her games to see who it was.

It also makes sense why she was so nice this morning, at breakfast, about me and Clove 'being together' while Brutus wasn't happy about it. I felt sorry for her. To her, it's like history repeating itself. One tribute, being in love with the other, not telling them and going into the arena, where sooner or later, one of them will die. I start to wonder if it's like this for most years. If there's a tribute that's in love with another one, going into the arena, without telling anybody, and having to watch the person they love be ripped away from the world. I can't even imagine the kind of pain that would inflict on the person.

I think back to a couple of years ago, when a girl called Annie Cresta was in the games. She watched her district partner be beheaded, it sent her crazy. She won, but only just. After her partner died, she spent days wandering around, crying, holding her head in her hands, she could easily have been killed, it was just pure luck that she wasn't. A flood caused the rest of the tributes to drown, and because she was from district four, she knew how to swim, so she survived. Thinking about how that affected her, the amount of pain it caused her, the fact that she went crazy makes me think about how much more pain she would have been in if she was in love with him. I remember watching it and thinking she was, that reaction could only have been because she was in love with him, right? But, no. She was actually in love with her mentor, Finnick Odair.

I couldn't imagine how Finnick felt, either, watching her go through all that pain and suffering. Not being able to hold her, in her time of need. Watching her slowly go crazy, nearly getting herself killed. I understand how she managed to survive though. Finnick must have done President Snow a favour – or lots of favours. There are rumours around that he has to sell himself to women, so President Snow can get things. He must have made a deal, get Annie out alive, and he will do whatever Snow wants. I love the Capitol, and I can't wait to become a Victor, but I don't know what I'd do if Snow tried using me like he uses Finnick. It's not fair. Finnick is painfully in love with Annie, but he can't be with her fully, how she needs him to be because of Snow. He can't refuse to do things for Snow though, because if he does, everyone he cares about will get tortured or killed, because of him. That's the only thing I hate about the Capitol. How Snow uses you and if you refuse, he will threaten you. He could easily get rid of whoever he wanted, without people asking too many questions. It's not right.

I think about if Clove died. What I'd do. I think I'd go crazy, too. Not like how Annie did. I'd go crazy with revenge. I'd want to kill the person who ended my Clove's life in the most brutal, evil way possible. I'd want them to feel every bit of pain that I felt. I start imagining every possible way Clove could die, from simple small ways, where she died with the least bit of pain possible, to evil, horrible ways, where she died alone, scared, frightened, without me beside her. I can feel tears filling my eyes and I try to shut those thoughts off. I can't cry. I've not cried for years, and I'm not about to start now, now that I'm supposed to be showing how strong I am, how I am worthy of winning these games and getting sponsors. Now is not the time to worry about Clove. I need to worry about me. I need to focus on getting home, no matter what it takes.

In an attempt to take things off my mind, I try out some of the buttons around my room. Most of them are just different food and drink, so I spend the rest of my morning eating bread rolls with cream cheese and drinking hot chocolate. Most of the stuff here isn't any different from back home. District two is one of the richest districts, so we can afford things most districts can't. The Capitol itself isn't much different to district two, either. It's a lot bigger, there's a lot more hi-tech things here than there is at home, and the trends are completely bizarre and strange but the food is basically the same, and we always get enough to eat. I wonder what it's like for the poor districts like eleven and twelve to go from a place where there is hardly enough food, where you're nearly always starving to death, to come to a place where you can get how ever much food, whenever you want at the touch of a button. If I came from one of them districts, I'd probably volunteer, just to die. I'd hate to live there. They're all pretty much on deaths door anyway, they might as well get it over with and die in a quicker, less painful way.

Before I know it, Lyme is back at my door with my prep team standing eagerly behind her. I know they can't wait to get to work, but I don't understand what they actually have to do to me.

I sit patiently for an hour or so, while they whisper to themselves, giggle about everything and talk so fast that I couldn't keep up even if I tried. They thinned out my eyebrows a little bit, and gave them more shape, which to me, was ridiculous, they made me have a bath, full of different oils and bath scents, even when I refused by saying I'd already had a shower this morning. They cut my hair, not much, but gave it a trim, too 'look more flattering' and they put small bits of gold make up on me. I tried my hardest to protest, and to not get angry about it, but they wouldn't take no for an answer.

Finally, they left and my stylist, Klara, came in with my outfit. "I trust your prep team took good care of you?" she smiled.

"I guess. They're very persistent though" I laughed softly. Klara was tall, with long bright pink hair shoved up into a messy bun. She had tattoos around her eyes, and on her neck. Her make up was heavily put on, her small blue eyes was surrounded by thick black eye liner and her lips were bright pink, like her hair. Without the heavily made up face, she could have been pretty, but other than that, she looked fairly normal.

"I know. I'm sorry about that. My fault. I needed you to look perfect for your outfit tonight" she grinned. "So. Guess you want to know what you're going to be wearing?" She could hardly stand still, she was full of so much excitement.

"Yeah, I guess" She was so excited, she could hardly tell how unenthusiastic I was.

"ta-da!" she said, ripping off the sheet of a gold gladiator outfit.

"Cool" I said, nodding. It looked okay, there had been better outfits in previous years, but I wasn't going to complain.

"You don't like it?" She asked, frowning.

"No, I do. I just... I don't know. I think there's been better outfits before. But, my opinion could change when I'm in it." I said, trying to put it in the nicest way I could think of.

"Whatever. I don't care about your opinion. You're wearing it whether you like it or not. Just put it on." she said, coldly, handing me my outfit. I know I basically told her that her design was rubbish compared to others, but I had tried to at least say it nicely, her reaction made me want to kill her. I reminded myself to stay calm, and not lash out. After all, she was here to help me, so instead, I shot her an evil look, hoping that she'd realise I would quite easily kill her, if she spoke to me like that again and went into the bathroom to get the outfit on. "Oh, Cato! It looks wonderful!" Klara exclaimed, when she saw me.

"It looks good." I nod.

"So.. do you like it now?"

"Yes. It emphasises all my muscles, it makes me look even stronger and bigger. The rest of the tributes are going to be terrified" I grinned.

"Yep." Klara smiles. "You've got about half an hour before you have to go to the Chariots. Clove should be ready soon, I'll get her to come here when she is. You can talk about whatever it is you talk about when you're alone"

"What? What do you mean?" My whole body stiffens. Does she know about how I feel about Clove? She couldn't, right? Lyme wouldn't have told her. I mean, she doesn't know for sure. I don't even know for sure what I feel, so nobody else could.

"I just mean that you probably have a lot to talk about... both being in the games, you know, talking about alliance things. Who you want to team up with and stuff.." I might be wrong, but she looks scared. I feel myself relax.

"Oh right. Yeah"

"Why.. What did you think I meant?" She looked at me, with confusion on her face. "Never mind. It's none of my business. I'll be back when it's time to go. Don't mess up your outfit"

Once again, I'm left on my own. I sit down on my bed eating more bread rolls and cream cheese. My thoughts go to the days ahead. Starting tomorrow, we have three days of training, before our private sessions with the Gamemakers. Then we get our training scores, and an interview with Caesar Flickerman. Then finally, we will be going into the arena. Within the next few weeks, I should be back home, in my new house, having the glory and fame that I deserve. I've trained for this my whole life. I know the only reason my dad wanted me was so that I could become a victor. As soon as I reached 5, my dad had me in training, so I could become big and strong, like he never was. I don't understand why he'd want to send off his only son to a place where he could possibly die, but, for some reason, he wants to. I knew that if I didn't volunteer, he never would have forgiven me. He wanted to volunteer when he was my age, but he never did. He said that somebody volunteered before him, but I don't think it's true. I think it's because he wasn't brave enough. He didn't believe he could do it. That's just one more reason I have to win. To prove to him I can do it. To make him proud of me.

"Hi, Cato. Is it okay to come in?"

"Clove! Of course." I smiled. Clove was in practically the same outfit as me, except hers looks more girly. Her hazel eyes stood out against the gold make up that had been patterned around them.

"You look good" She smiled back.

"Not compared to you" She blushed and looked to the floor.

"You ready for the parade and to meet the other tributes?" she asked.

"Not really, but we've got to do it some time."

"I don't want to meet the girl from one" she said, quietly.

"Why?"

"She just doesn't look like the type of person I'd like. I'll probably end up wanting to kill her"

"Maybe if you're nice, I'll let you kill her for me" I laughed.

"If _I'm_ nice? Sorry, who's the one that can hit a target with a knife every single time? Oh. That's right, me. If I want to kill her I will" she laughed, back.

"Want to go wait with the others?" I ask.

"Sure." she said, slowly getting up while adjusting her outfit. "My stylist will kill me if this outfit doesn't look completely perfect"

"Mine too. Well, that is if she wasn't scared of me already."

"How did you manage to make your stylist scared of you in two hours?"

"Just my intimidating nature, I guess" I shrugged.

"I'll have to tell her about your sweet side, she wont be scared of you then" she teased.

"I don't think so. I already said you tell anybody, I'll kill you"

"Not too funny with where we're going" she laughed. We got to the lounge, to see everybody on the couch, watching even more recaps of the reapings, possibly trying to work out strategies to help us, or it could just be because there's never anything else on around the games. It's all to do with the games, either past victors or the games on now.

"Wondered when we'd be seeing you two" Brutus mumbled.

"Don't tease them, Brute" Lyme said, nudging him slightly.

"They've not seen eachother for a few hours, I thought they'd want some alone time" he laughed, turning to me winking. I shot a quick look at Lyme. I could tell she knew what I meant, had she told him? She gave a small, quick, shake of her head, and I allowed myself to relax. Okay, so Brutus didn't know just yet. Only Lyme knows how I _might _feel. I trusted her enough. I trusted that she wouldn't tell anybody. She trusted me with a pretty huge secret, so I think I can trust her with this, and only when I sort out my own feelings will I allow her to tell Brutus. It's hard for me to try sort through my thoughts, because of what else is going on and where I am. I don't want to think about it. Thinking about it means eventually accepting how I feel. If I accept how I feel, how will I survive in the arena? If I am in love with Clove, how do I survive knowing it inevitably ends with her death. How will I be able to watch her be taken away from me? How will I cope knowing I wasn't able to save her? That her death would be my fault? How would I return home and look her parents in the face knowing that I love their little girl just as much as they did, but I did nothing to save her. I can't love her. That's the only option. I can't feel anything for her. We can be friends, but that's all we can be. Anything more would mess up every single chance I have of returning home. I can't do that. I need to be the winner. Even if it means Clove's death.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thought I'd update another chapter, because you guys are awesome and, you deserve it after how long I was gone (a). Thanks for reading so far! :). Keep reviewing. Thanks so much to the people who favourited it and alerted it. It genuinely makes me so happy to know you guys think it's good enough for that! Love you guys 3 **

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Chapter Six

Brutus and Lyme took us down to the chariots earlier than we should have been there. They must have made an agreement with district one's victors, Cashmere and Gloss, to get all of us down there so we'd have extra time to get to know each other. I know we're all Careers and it's the unspoken rule from one and two that we team up every year, but I wasn't looking forward to it. I'd much rather it be just me and Clove. We're strong enough, it would be easy for us to kill everybody else. That way I could make sure that Clove was always safe. It's going to be so much harder for me to keep an eye on Clove, and protect her when there's other people around. I can't let them know I'm trying to protect her, it will make me look weak.

_Snap out of it. _I order myself. _I can't protect Clove. Ever. The sooner she dies, the easier it will be for me. _I hate thinking like that. But it's true. If Clove dies early on, it wont be as hard on me. I can't protect her. I can't save her. In the end, only one can come out. I can't let it come down to just me and her. How would I kill her? I couldn't. She's beautiful, and sweet, and perfect. She doesn't deserve to die. I could never kill her. If it was just me and her, I'd rather take my own life than let her die. I couldn't hurt her. But, how am I supposed to survive knowing that my beautiful Clove would be gone? Whether it was my fault, or somebody elses?

The tributes from one were already at the chariots when Clove and I arrived. They were spray painted silver and wearing silver tunics, to represent district one's export, which is luxury goods. Glimmer was tall, beautiful and very sexy, with long curly blonde hair. Closer up, I saw her eyes were bright green. Marvel was tall, probably taller than me, but he was skinny. He didn't look muscular or fit, but being a Career, he must have been relatively strong. He has light brown hair, and bright green eyes, like Glimmer.

I saw Glimmer's eyes widen when she saw us, and she started whispering and giggling to Cashmere. Cashmere was clearly uninterested though, even I could tell she was just trying to be polite back. Her forced smile said it all. "Me and Lyme are going to go talk with Cashmere and Gloss. We'll leave you four to get to know each other. We'll come back over when it's time for you to go to the chariots. Have fun" Brutus said, forcing a small smile. It was the only time I'd ever seen him smile, even if it was small and forced.

Glimmer confidently walked forward, heading straight for me, not even bothering to look at Clove. "Hi" she smiled. I saw Marvel roll his eyes and sigh.

"Hey." I said, trying to keep my voice steady. I was trying my hardest to stifle a laugh.

"So, I'm Glimmer." she said, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

"Yeah, I know, I saw the reaping"

"Thought you'd pay attention to me, then?" She flirted.

"I remember people who I'm supposed to be in an alliance with that's all" I shrugged. I'm not interested in talking to her. I wouldn't mind killing her now, and getting it over and done with. I'm probably going to end up killing her anyway, and she seems like she's going to get on my nerves as it is. I can't stand girls that constantly flirt with everybody, just because they can, and she seems like one of them.

"Oh." her smile faded and she looked to the floor. "Well, anyway, this is Marvel. But I suppose you already know that" She was staring at me, her face full of anger. She must have gathered that I wasn't interested in her, or even just flirting with her, and I take it she didn't like it. Girls like Glimmer always get what they want. They never get rejected. If they want to flirt with someone, they will, and that person will flirt back, but not me.

"Yeah, I do." I snapped, staring back at her.

"You're Cato and... Clove... Right?" Marvel suddenly said, from behind Glimmer.

"Yeah, we are." Clove said. "What do you think of the other tributes this year?"

"Well, I guess we'll have to see tomorrow, in training, but right now, I can honestly say that I think the winner will be one of us." Marvel grinned. He looked me over for a minute, but I didn't see fear in his eyes, I saw determination and happiness.

"It's not going to be her." Glimmer snorted, looking at Clove. I turned to Clove, just as she was reaching down to her boot. I wondered what she was doing, when I suddenly remembered yesterday after the reapings, on the train.

"Clove. Don't" I warned. She looked at me, still reaching for her boot.

"Or what?" She snapped.

"Don't do what?" Glimmer asked.

"Clove, leave it. She's not worth it." I said, ignoring Glimmer altogether.

"Fine." she looked at me again. I knew a part of her hated me. I hated me too. I would have liked nothing more, for Clove to reach down into her boot, pull out the knife she brought for safety and throw it at Glimmer, but I knew that would be disastrous for Clove. There would be plenty of time for her to kill her in the arena.

"Hello? I'm talking to you." Glimmer turned to look at Marvel. "You can see me right. I mean, you can hear me too? I'm not just invisible, right?"

"Shut it." I snarled, stepping towards her.

"Cato. Calm down." Marvel said, moving so he was in between me and Glimmer. "Like you said, she's not worth it, right?"

"Hey. Marvel!" Glimmer squeaked. "You're _my _district partner. You're supposed to be sticking up for me."

"I might be your partner, but doesn't mean I have to like you" he mumbled. Clove gave a quiet laugh, and Glimmer shot her an evil look. I knew Clove didn't see it, or Glimmer would probably be dead by now. Clove's temper is as bad as mine, and if I saw her give me a look like that, I would already be on my way to kill her. "Anyway, I am sticking up for you, Glim. I could easily have let Cato kill you. But I haven't"

"Whatever." she huffed. "Look, we have to at least try to get on. We are going to be allies."

"She's right." Clove said, looking at me and then to Marvel, but refusing to turn her gaze to Glimmer. "We can't be allies if we don't get along, and I don't know about you, but Brutus and Lyme scare the hell out of me, so I wouldn't want to go against them and not be your ally. I'd much rather just go along with it."

"She's got a point." Marvel said, looking at me and then to Glimmer. "Just, try to stay out of each others way, as much as you can. Don't talk if you're just going to want to kill each other. I don't know about you, Glim, but I'd rather be with them than without them"

"Why?" Clove asked.

"Your reaping. You both clearly wanted to be here, for whatever reason. Cato, you're big, and look really strong. Your temper doesn't make me want to be the one you're hunting, any more, either" he laughs softly. "Clove, you clearly have quite a bad temper too. You look small, sorry, no offence, but your determination to be here was unforgettable. You must be a strong contender in the games, otherwise you would have let someone volunteer for you."

"You two both volunteered too, right?" I asked.

"Yeah" Marvel smiled.

"So, what can you do, what's your thing?"

"Spears. I can shoot pretty well." he says.

"I'm fast, and strong. I can use a lot of other weapons, too" Glimmer says, quietly. Probably unsure if we were talking to her or not. "You?"

"Swords." I say, bluntly.

"Knives, are my thing." Clove smiles.

We stand in silence for a while, not knowing what else to say. I hate Glimmer. I'm not looking forward to having to be permanently around her in the arena, for days. I might warm up to her, but I doubt it. She's the type of person I never have time for, back at home. Marvel, however, I like. He seems nice. I could survive, living with him for a while. Back at home, we could have even been friends. I wouldn't have minded that. He seems scared of me, which doesn't surprise me, much. I'm used to people being scared of me. Nearly everybody at home is scared of me, mainly because they've had a past experience with my temper, but also just because of how I look. I'm tall and very, very muscular.

"Look, there are district four. Should we introduce ourselves?" Glimmer asked, pointing to the tributes walking towards their chariot.

"No. We can leave them, see what they're like in training. They don't look to good." I shrug.

"I don't know. The girl might be some use to us. I doubt the boy would be though." Marvel says.

"Maybe."

"There's no time, Brutus and Lyme are coming back." Clove said, looking behind Glimmer and Marvel.

Clove and I walk towards our chariot slowly. "What do you think of them?" she whispered.

"Marvel's fine. He could help us, a lot. I can't stand Glimmer" I whisper back.

"Can I kill her, please?" she pleaded.

"I told you, if you're nice" I teased. She shot me an evil look, and then we both started laughing, quietly. "Stop, you're going to ruin our serious, evil, reputation"

"Sorry." she laughed, again.

We waited at the chariot for Lyme and Brutus. They were whispering to themselves again. I wonder what they always talk about. Every time you turn around, they seem to be whispering more things to each other.

"Here's what we want you to do; stand as far apart as you can manage. Don't look at each other. Don't wave to the sponsors. We want you to stand straight, and strong, look straight ahead and that's it. I want you to look as strong, brave and independent as you can. Look.. I don't know... try to look, almost evil. You can smile, but not too much. Clove, make sure you don't look too girly, if you smile. Keep the strong look going." Brutus explained, quickly, before ushering us onto the chariot.

"You two look great. You're going to be the stars of the show!" Lyme smiled. "Good luck. We'll meet you back in the lobby of the training centre at the end of the parade." they quickly turned around and left, without another word.

I turned back around to take a quick look at all the tributes. None of them looked as good as me and Clove. We definitely were going to be the best. "Have you seen twelve?" Clove whispered. I looked back again, and I saw them. They were both in black unitards with a black cape and black head piece. They definitely weren't going to make an impression. I couldn't help but laugh, despite my trying not too. You would have thought that their stylists would have tried to do something different, at least try to help them make an impression considering they look like okay tributes. The boy looks strong. Very, very, scared, but strong. The girl volunteered. She must think she has some sort of a chance of surviving, otherwise she wouldn't have volunteered. Nobody's going to remember them. The only decent tributes twelve have managed to produce in the last twenty-four years, and they're just going to let them die. It's good for me. If nobody sponsors them, it gives me more chance of getting sponsors, which means even more chance of me going home.

All of a sudden, the Capitol anthem started playing, and district one's chariot started riding off. "Remember, look fierce" I whispered to Clove. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her give a quick nod and look forward, trying her hardest to be as far away from me as possible. I'm not sure why they wanted us to be so far apart, probably because they didn't want the sponsors to have any chance of suspecting anything going on between us.

Our chariot began moving, and we were slowly going past all of the potential sponsors. I gave them the most coldest, serious face I could. I couldn't help but take quick glances in the mirrors as we were going past. The lighting made clove look even more beautiful than she already was, even with her face hard and cold, like mine. I could tell it was working an that people liked us, because we were the stars. Everybody was screaming for us. They loved us. Until district twelve came out.

The whole crowd started cheering for them. The pathetic, nobodies that no one is supposed to remember. Why? How? How could they be the ones everybody want. I could feel the anger boiling inside of me. This was supposed to be _my _moment. They were supposed to be screaming my name. They were supposed to be mesmerised by me and Clove. We look strong, and great. How could _they _get everybody's attention. They're just in a disgusting black unitard. There is nothing interesting about that. Clove, she looks beautiful. I, look strong, independent and like a future victor. I resist the temptation to turn to look at them, and focus my gaze straight ahead. If anybody was paying any attention to us, the look on my face, and in my eyes, the look of pure hatred, and anger, and determination to kill them, would have worked in my favour. But, nobody was looking at us. They were all fixated on them. No, not on them. On _her_. They were all screaming her name. Nobody cared about the boy, it was all about her. Why her? Clove looked better than her. Hell, even Glimmer looked better than her.

The chariots finally came to a stop, but I still couldn't see twelve, without turning around. Despite how much I wanted to turn around, I made myself look forward. I'd see them, eventually, but If I turned around now, it would go against everything Brutus would want me to do.

President Snow stepped up to a podium and started his speech. It was the same as every other year, him going through the reasons why we're all here today, why the hunger games started, the rebellion that ended district thirteen. I started to zone out, and got caught in my thoughts. All I could think about was my blind hatred for the twelve girl. She stole my moment. She probably stole my sponsors. I hated her. I wanted to kill her. It took every bit of strength I had, not to get off my chariot, and kill her right now. I wouldn't care about the consequences, all I wanted was her dead. Not just by anybody, it had to be by me. I made a promise to myself that it would be me that would kill her in the arena. Anybody else tried to interfere with that, and I will kill them. I don't care who it is. She needed to die, by me. Only I could kill her in such a horrific way, without feeling guilty.

I got snapped out of my thoughts when our chariots slowly started moving back towards the training centre, and that's when I saw them. Twelve's tributes were on fire. Literally. That's why everybody was so mesmerised, that's why they were so brilliant. They were actually on fire. It's a first, for anybody. Nobody had ever been on fire. "How are they on fire?" I heard Clove quietly whisper.

"I don't know." I whisper back.

"I don't suppose it's too much to wish they fully catch on fire, and burn to death, is it?"

"I don't want that." I say.

"Why?"

"Because, I want to kill her. I need to kill her. In the arena, I have dibs on her"

I keep my eyes focused on the girl on fire. The hatred burning even deeper. I hoped the audience would look my way, just for a moment. I knew they would change their mind, if they did. Twelve might look good, because they're on fire, but that's not going to help them in the arena. How strong, and evil I looked would easily get me sponsors.

"They're holding hands" Clove said, quietly.

"What?" I looked down, and sure enough, they were stood, closely, side-by-side, holding onto each other. Were they together? Surely not. Surely their mentor would know that would stop them getting sponsors. Nobody wants a loved up couple who are sure to die protecting each other, to sponsor. Especially from twelve. They sure as hell aren't going to win. My thoughts quickly flicker to Clove. How I want to hold her, to show her off to everybody, I want her to be mine, but because of this game, because of the Capitol, I'm not going to get the chance to have her. One, or both, of us will die in the arena. All I want, is for my last few days, to be with her. If I'm going to die in the arena, I want to be with her when it happens. Not just physically, I want her to be mine. I want to be hers. But, we can't. The fact that they are so easily parading their love makes me even angrier. Why can't that be me and Clove?

I'm so wrapped up in my thoughts, that I don't even realise the Chariot has stopped until I hear Brutus' voice, booming around me. "Well done! You did brilliantly. Exactly what I asked you to do!" he smiled, this time, it wasn't a forced smile.

"Yeah." I said. My eyes still fixated on twelve. They were off the chariot, walking towards their mentor, still hand in hand. Without thinking, I started to lunge forward. I wanted to run up to them and snap their neck. I wanted to kill her. I wanted to kill their stylist. I wanted to kill everybody in the room.

"Cato. Calm down" Lyme said, resting a hand on my shoulder.

"Come on. Lets go to the elevator." Clove said, her voice full of anger and hatred too. I didn't move, I stayed still, watching everything they were do. Trying to listen to what they were saying. Their mentor looked over to me and slowly started walking toward to the other elevator, them trailing behind. Clove pushed me forward slightly, until I began walking. It wasn't until we got into the elevator that I managed to focus on anything other than them.

"What the hell was that?" I shouted.

"What?" Brutus asked.

"How could _they _of all people up stage us? Twelve actually got noticed. How? Why?"

"Cato. Calm down. It's not their fault" Clove said, placing her hand on my chest. I could tell she was just trying to stay calm for me. I knew she wanted more than anybody else to go and kill them.

"I don't care who's fault it is. How the hell are we supposed to get sponsors when they're, there up staging us?"

"Don't shout at us, boy" Brutus growled.

"I'll do what I want" I snarled, squaring my shoulders. I was so full of anger and hate that I didn't even care that it was Brutus I was doing it to.

"Cato. Don't" Clove and Lyme warned.

"Shut it." I spat.

"Don't talk to them like that" Brutus squared his shoulders. He was bigger than me. If it came down to a fight, he would win, easily, but I knew it wouldn't. If he seriously hurt me, it would be him that would get into trouble with the Capitol, so I knew he'd have to back down sooner or later.

The elevator doors opened, and before Brutus managed to turn and walk out, I lunged at him. Despite how much heavier and stronger he was, I managed to throw him out of the elevator and jump on top of him.


End file.
